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A Tail of a Time: Mermaid Camp Teaches Visitors to Fin Like a Pro

A classic Florida attraction, Weeki Wachee Springs State Park has been hosting a mermaid show for decades, but why watch when you can dive in? A weekend camp teaches visitors aquatic ballet, complete with shimmering tail

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Kathryn O’Shea-Evans

Updated March 1, 2017 12:38 p.m. ET

HERE’S a packing dilemma for you: What should a grown woman bring for a weekend of playing “mermaid”—besides a swimsuit, sunscreen and proof of her own sanity? The good people at Florida’s Weeki Wachee Springs State Park must be used to the question; after I registered to attend their “Sirens of the Deep Mermaid Camp,” they sent me an exhaustive packing list, unprompted. It included items like “cover ups” and “extra makeup for retouches,” though, blessedly, stopped just short of “seashell bra.”